The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire

As a freebie intended to promote the movie of The Hunger Games, which given its current box office domination probably doesn’t need any help, it’s tempting to dismiss Girl On Fire as hollow cynicism.

As it happens, it was created by Adam Atomic – the guy behind Canabalt, the increasingly classic granddaddy of autorunning games. Girl On Fire is another autorunner – i.e. the lead character, The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen, sprints from left to right by herself, but adds combat to the mix.

As you frantically leap up and down you fire off arrows to take down giant mutant wasps and other foes. Simple, but satisfyingly challenging.

Death is all but inevitable, which is very much in keeping with theme of the film/book, so it’s an intense matter of putting in as good a performance as possible before you’re stung to oblivion.

Macworld Australia’s buying advice

Girl On Fire mines a surprising degree of challenge and satisfaction out its consciously simple structure – and despite being free shames the vast majority of its paid autorunning rivals.